Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you seriously jerking me around Kirkman? The final splash is all one big tease, right? It has to be. These three new characters would say anything to be let in to the farm and I believe it. This series was originally called “Night of the Living Dead” and we only had an inkling of what may have caused the dead uprising in that movie, and one possible explanation. There’s no way Kirkman would explain and hold our hands through why the dead suddenly started rising one day.
Feast II: Sloppy Seconds (2008)
As a product coming out of the gates of the Weinstein throes where they took a painfully mediocre television series and turned it in to a form of producing an honest to goodness horror film, “Feast” kicked my ass from here to Thailand as a truly great horror comedy with some bone breaking action, creepy horror, and genuine comedy that induced laughter whenever it damn well pleased. “Feast II” takes the same turns as the original did but this time with Gulager able to take his own twist and storytelling abilities and include his own usual suspects i.e. his wife and father who prominently featured in the first half of the sequel known as “Sloppy Seconds.”
Chainsaw Maid (2007)
Around four months ago I deeply considered reviewing “Chainsaw Maid” for the site mainly because I thought it was so well made. These days I’m almost sorry that I opted out of reviewing “Chainsaw Maid” because it’s become somewhat of a cult hit. How did this happen? The animation is rigid. The claymation basic, and the story is so incredible one note, and yet when all is said and done I’d actually sit and watch a ninety minute live action version of “Chainsaw Maid.” What’s the big deal about this movie? Well, as a person who can’t speak Asian, the director, and writer are basically unknown to me, and there’s a strong character motivation in spite of the fact that there’s zero dialogue.
Midnight Meat Train (2008)
I hate the subways, I’ve always hated the subways; they’re dark, dank, merciless and filled with running machines that you can’t control thus you are immediately trapped if you find yourself on the wrong pod in the middle of the night. What if it stops mid tunnel? Will it go? Will it ever keep running? How far does the rabbit hole go, and what’s in these holes we’ve never explored? That’s the questions posed in “Midnight Meat Train,” Ryuhei Kitamura’s tale of a subway serial killer that have been somewhat of an anomaly in the horror world. It’s one that many have desired to see but few have been able to, and I’m glad to say that it’s well worth the wait many of us are enduring that may go on for another year or so. Who knows when the masses will be able to see it, if at all?
Animation Unleashed: 100 Principles Every Animator, Comic Book Writers, Filmmakers, Video Artist, and Game Developer Should Know [Paperback]
There have been a lot of animation guides, but not one I could have easily used to animate my own film, or create a comic with. Most animation guides are a bit too rigid and advanced for someone of my skills so it was a blast to read “Animation Unleashed” a comprehensive and very helpful guide that tackles all bases of the animation and comic book medium.
From form, motion, and action, to shadows, right down to clouds. It’s a quick and fun read that will prove to be an asset to any of the aspiring animators or comic artists looking for help on taking their one dimensional characters or figures and turning them in to living breathing beings.
Dead Fury (2008)
Frank Sudol’s “Dead Fury” is inspired by classics such as “John Carpenter’s The Thing,” “Evil Dead” and most likely “Night of the Living Dead” and as such is a clear homage that notifies the audience of its intentions before the credits even roll. I’m a fan of Sudol’s “City of Rott” even in spite of the general problems it had in the final act, and he follows it up with a surreal and unusually constructed monster in the house story about four friends out on a hunting trip who find… demons? I want to say Demons who act like Zombies. Either way, “Dead Fury” is a film that’s been met with a bit of scorn from critics, but I like it.
The Stepford Wives (1975)
An “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” for the feminist era, novelist Ira Levin’s horror science fiction thriller is an ode to the fear of feminism, the unwelcome reception it received by old fashioned men who grew up in a society predominantly ruled by subservient women and a bit of a paranoid fantasy that takes the best of feminism and matches it with the male ego that ultimately attempts to snuff out the girl power movement enacted by women after the sixties and take it in to an era where women were soon relegated to tools and props as status symbols for men unwilling to submit to a woman who was well spoken, intelligent, and always anxious to give their men hell for making decisions that they didn’t approve with. Sure it’s an anti-male diatribe, but so what? “The Stepford Wives” original as directed by Bryan Forbes is a reflection on a society that wants to have it both ways.